By: Stephanie Prokop
BORDENTOWN CITYThe Battle of Bordentown went out with a "bang," but fortunately, no one was hurt from any of the re-enactors’ shots.
A re-enactment performance of The Battle of Bordentown was held at the Divine Word Seminary Park, part of the former estate of Joseph Bonaparte, near Park Street, on Saturday and Sunday.
Although there was never an actual Battle of Bordentown, Barry Hausser, one of the event coordinators, said the battle is a re-enactment of a battle that would have taken place during the Revolutionary War period.
The last re-enactment here was held in 1997. Mr. Hausser and the 325th Anniversary Committee thought that having the performance at intervals would be more significant than holding it every year.
According to Larry Denney, who is one of the co-chairmen for the 325th Anniversary Committee, he considered the event to be "extremely successful."
Mr. Denney said the Sunday turnout was higher than the Saturday turnout, and that he guesses that there was upwards of "a couple thousand" people there on Sunday.
"At one point, the crowd was seven people deep right next to the fences of the re-enactment," he said.
There were 1,200 re-enactors present, from the 3rd PA Lights and the 43rd Regiment of Foot, and Mr. Denney said that when they came through town on Friday night, they were greeted by Mr. Denney himself and his wife dressed in period costume.
"They were dragging cannons through town, getting ready for the next day’s battle," he noted.
Mr. Denney said the re-enactors decided to stay within Bordentown City and dine out the Friday night before and do some shopping on Farnsworth Avenue while time permitted them to do so.
"Every re-enactor that I met told me that they love coming to Bordentown City," he said, "And I think that they were quite impressed by the main street (Farnsworth Avenue) with all of its shops and restaurants," he added.
Colleen Humphreys, an 18th century re-enactor who describes herself as "a re-enactor who never met a textile craft she didn’t want to try" stated, "I liked that the wood was plentiful…the water was running, and couldn’t run out."
Another re-enactor, Paul O’Shaughnessy, of the 10th Regiment of Foot in Command of 1st Division, 2nd Brigade, said, "I haven’t had a such time in years."
After the event, Abe Fisher, a re-enactor, cited some of the re-enactment action: "We started randomly popping rounds off at them, trying to close off the alley, when we fixed bayonets, charged them, and made Brit-kebabs out of the lot of them."
Anniversary committee members said they are committed to keeping the past history of Bordentown City alive and available for all area residents and travelers to see, and Mr. Denney said there may be another re-enactment in approximately 10 years.
"I think that this battle went a lot more smoothly than the one we held 10 years ago," he said.
The committee attributes that smooth professionalism to the heightened safety precautions that they took to make sure that spectators were in the park by 2 p.m.
The 325th Anniversary Committee will be selling a commemorative video that will feature highlights of the weekend, and will be available soon for under $20.
"It’s for history’s sake," added Mr. Denney.

